Ash's Pokemon Journey

Summary: This story is about how I think that ash's journey should have gone through, Kanto, Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova. Smart, a psychic and an Aura user. I do not own pokemon.

Note: I am not doing the Kalos Region. So fairy pokemon and Mega Evolutions don't exist.

Chapter 161

The Sinnoh Grand Festival

A week after the Arrowroot Town pokemon contest, the gang finally made it to Lake Valor. Ash and Dawn were happy they finally got there because it wasn't long till the Grand Festival was going to start. Right now the gang were at the lakeside resort, attending the coordinator meet and great that was held there.

Coordinators, who had won five contest ribbons, had gathered there and everyone was helping themselves to the food being served. Rhonda the Sinnoh TV reporter was interviewing the coordinators. Right now she was interviewing Nando who was there. When she saw Ash and Dawn she wasted no time interviewing them as well. Of course Dawn had to check with a mirror if she still looked nice for it.

After the interviews the gang had a talk with Nando. "When I first met you I couldn't decide on whether to do contests or gym battles," said Nando "but thanks to you suggesting I do both I found the joy of doing both. I am truly grateful for that". "How many gym badges have you got?" asked Ash. Nando showed off his badge case and revealed he had seven badges. Two of them were from different gyms. "Wow so you only need one more badge just like Ash and I do" said Tomo. "Then I hope we'll meet up again in the Sinnoh League" said Ash. "Same here" said Nando.

During the rest of the meet and greet, the gang met up with their friends who also arrived at Lake Valor. First they met Kenny, who of course went on teasing Dawn like usual. Next, to Dawn's dismay, they met up with Ursula who acted proud and snobbish like usual. Then at last they ran into Zoey who was pleased that Ash and Dawn made it. She looked forward to facing them in the festival. Of course there was a talk between Ash, Dawn, Zoey and Kenny that both of them wished to win this Grand Festival. Ursula just acted proud thinking they were all acting like young children, but truth is told she also wanted to win this festival but didn't admit it.

That night Dawn had all of her pokemon out; Piplup, Ariados, Buneary, Wormadam, Pachirisu, Mamoswine, Cyndaquil, Cherrim, Drifloon, Togekiss, Chatot, Clefairy, Phione, Mespirit and Smoochum. Prof Rowan gave Dawn special permission to let her have all the pokemon with her. "Everyone this is it;" Dawn said to her pokemon "the Grand Festival starts tomorrow". The pokemon were excited to hear about this. Dawn showed off Johanna's old first ribbon to her pokemon. "I am going to work extra hard to honour this," she said "Ash, Brock, Tomo and all of you it's because of all of you that I have made it this far. Thank you". "Now is the time to put everything you've learnt from the pokemon contests into to this Grand Festival Dawn" said Ash. "You're right Ash" said Dawn. She turned to all of her pokemon. "I know all of you are in great shape and all ready for this. So let's give one big final push. All her pokemon cheered, all excited for tomorrow.

The next day Ash and Tomo were outside with Pikachu and Growlithe. "Well today is the start of the Sinnoh Grand Festival" said Ash. "I can't wait for it to start," said Tomo "do you think you'll win this Grand Festival this time Ash?" "Well since I took second place at the Kanto Grand Festival, I may win first place at this one" said Ash. "Don't be so sure on that Ash" said a voice. The voice came from Kenny; he heard everything Ash just said. "I'm afraid the one who will be winning this competition is me". "Oh we'll see about that Kenny" said Ash. "You and I can settle our past contest challenges here Ash" said Kenny. "I accept that" smiled Ash. This was true; Ash and Kenny did have a score to settle with, especially since they had battled with each other a few times in contests. "Since you're out here, where is Dawn?" said Kenny. "She's been going crazy since this morning," said Ash "but Tomo and I ran away before she could let us have it". "I hear you, that's Dawn alright" laughed Kenny.

Ash was right about Dawn going crazy. She was having trouble to try to get her hair right again because of her nerves. Of course Brock had to ask Zoey to help Dawn come down. Then of course Zoey had to have a talk with Dawn about her nerves and remind her that their pokemon were the stars of this tournament.

Later on it was the start of the Sinnoh Grand Festival. First up of course it was to be the appeal rounds. The venue had three stages for the appeal rounds; a blue stage, a green stage and a red stage. Marian explained that 108 coordinators had made it to the venue and she explained that the performances will be double performances. This was why there were three stages. Next she introduced the three normal judges, but instead of one Nurse Joy there where three Nurse Joys. And to everyone's surprise Fantina was going to be a judge for the Sinnoh Grand Festival too. As Fantina was a top coordinator herself she was very eager to become a judge for this. As there were three stages, two judges were to be on each stage. Mr. Contesta and one Nurse Joy were on the blue stage. Mr Suziko and another Nurse Joy were on the green stage and Fantina and the last Nurse Joy were on the red stage.

Ash and Dawn were in the waiting room with the other coordinators. Dawn's dress that Johanna sent her was a light yellow dress with a red-pink ribbon sewn to the chest, an orange sash at the torso area, white ruffles, opera-length white gloves, and white pumps. There was also a same ribbon in Dawn's hair for decoration too. Ash was wearing a new outfit too thanks to Delia. He had dark blue trousers, a navy and dark blue log coat, a grey waist coat, a white shirt, a black belt and two black boots. (The military uniform seen in K return of kings) Zoey and Kenny had different outfits too; Zoey wore a long green tunic dress with green trousers and shoes and Kenny wore a bluish-green suit that made him look like a prince. Tomo and Brock were in the seats with Pikachu and Piplup joining them; they weren't going to be used for the preliminary round which is why they were in the seats. Johanna and Delia were watching this at their homes on TV.

Soon it was the start of the appeal rounds. Ursula was up first on the blue stage and she sent out two Eevees with song seals. Eevee was amazed Ursula had two Eevees and looked Eevee up on her pokedex. To start off, Ursula had her two Eevees use iron tail; the Eevees whacked each other's tails with iron tail like it was a sword fight. Next the Eevees used hidden power and silver bubbles were floating around them together. To everyone's surprise Ursula took out a fire stone and water stone and threw them to her Eevees. One Eevee caught the fire stone and evolved into Flareon and the other caught the water stone and evolved into Vaporeon. Ursula's tactic was to show off her Eevees' evolution on stage. Because of their evolutions, Flareon's silver bubbles had turned red and Vaporeon's bubbles had turned blue. Everyone loved it; even Ash, Dawn, Kenny and Zoey were impressed. "I've never seen this happening in a contest before" said Ash. "Even I wouldn't have thought of something like this" said Kenny. "Tactics like that will only work once, but it was very impressive I have to admit" said Zoey. "Ursula has become tougher than before" said Dawn.

Next it was Nando's turn on the green stage and he was using his Altaria and a Kricketot. While playing his harp he ordered Altaria to use perish song and Kricketot to use sing. Altaria left a trail of gold dust and sparkles while flying about and Kricketot let out a lot of song notes while singing. The gold dust and sparkles made the notes glow, while giving off a musical performance. "Trust Nando to make his appeal round all musical" said Tomo. "His technique is high level" said Brock.

Next it was Ash's turn on the red stage and he was using Ambipom and Mothim. Ash first told Mothim to use silver wind and had Ambipom punch the silver wind with focus punch. The silver wind created a lot of silvery particles after getting punched by Ambipom's focus punch. Next Ambipom created one big star with his swift attack and Mothim hit the big star with psybeam. The big star turned into a shower of stars. Ash and his two pokemon raised their arms together for a pose. "Brother was great" said Tomo. Pikachu agreed.

After Ash's turn there were some performances from other coordinators. Soon it was Zoey's turn. She was on the blue stage and a pool appeared. The stages were set to have anything a coordinator would want for their performances like a watery field or sandy field or have any equipment they desired. Zoey was using her newly a Lumineon and Gastrodon; Lumineon had evolved from her Finneon. Zoey started off by telling her Lumineon to use aqua ring and told Gastrodon to use water pulse. The aqua ring and water pulse attacks created three rings of water and Lumineon and Gastrodon jumped through them as a trick. To finish it off the rings floated onto the surface of the water and transformed into water spouts. Zoey jumped onto the middle water spout and Gastrodon and Lumineon jumped onto the side ones for a finishing pose. "What a way to show off water pokemon" said Ash.

Next was Kenny's turn on the red stage, and he was using his newly evolved Empoleon and his newest pokemon Floatzel. To start it off, Floatzel used aqua jet and Empoleon used hydro cannon. The hydro cannon attacks hit the aqua jet and turned it into a waterfall. Next Floatzel used razor wind, while it was still in the waterfall, and the razor wind fused with the water creating many watery flying disks. Then Empoleon cut the disks with metal claw, creating a watery mist. To finish it off Empoleon fired flash cannon while Floatzel used whirlpool. The two attacks countered each other creating a rainbow coloured wave of energy. "Kenny's grown more impressive" said Ash. Dawn agreed. To finish it off Empoleon used hydro cannon and Floatzel used water gun. The two water attacks collided with each other, creating a very splashy ending.

Finally it was Dawn's turn and she was on the green stage and she was using Cyndaquil and Smoochum. To start it off, Smoochum jumped as high as she could and released ice beam while spinning around. She ended up creating a frozen roller coaster. Next Cyndaquil used flame wheel to roll up and down the roller coaster, with Smoochum sliding behind him. Next up Cyndaquil used smokescreen while Smoochum got ready to use ice beam again. The smokescreen covered up both Smoochum and Cyndaquil. Of course having both pokemon covered usually meant a mistake, but Dawn had plans with this. Cyndaquil released the smokescreen with his flames and Smoochum was revealed to be in a frozen pokeball. The smokescreen was used to make a design of a pokeball all along. Everyone liked the frozen work of art, especially Nurse Joy and Mr Suziko.

After that it was time for the judges to choose which coordinators had passed the preliminary rounds. Only 32 coordinators were to enter the battle rounds. A few minutes later the results were out. Ash, Dawn, Zoey, Kenny, Nando and Ursula both made it to the second round, to their happiness.

That evening the gang had a chat with Zoey and Kenny. "I'm glad we both got into the second round" said Dawn. "No doubt any of us will be battling each other in the second round" said Ash. "I hope to battle any of you in the final round" said Kenny. Zoey thought the same thing too. So the preliminary round was over, but there were still the battle rounds to go in the grand festival.

The next morning Ash and Dawn decided to have some last minute practicing with their pokemon before the battle rounds of the grand festival started. Ash was going to use Staraptor and Gliscor for his first battle so those two were warming up their attacks. Dawn was taking turns with all of her pokemon; switching her pokemon with Prof Rowan now and again.

Zoey, Nando and Kenny heard all the training and came to see the gang. "Well, well, well, I see you and your pokemon are all excited this early in the morning" said Kenny. "That's because we are getting ready for round 2 of the grand festival" replied Ash. "I look forward to seeing what you shall do during the contest battles" said Nando. Zoey was happy to see that Dawn was losing her nerves now.

Later on it was nearly time for the first contest battle rounds. All 32 participants who made were in the waiting room, waiting for the battle round results to come. Dawn was telling the boys she decided to use Mamoswine and Pachirisu for the first battle. "I take it you'll be using the ice chandelier move right?" asked Ash. "Right as always Ash" smiled Dawn.

Just then Ursula turned up. As usual, she started making snobbish and rude remarks to Dawn. To Ursula, she believed Dawn would never make it to the final round. Dawn didn't like her attitude one bit, and neither did Ash, Tomo and Brock. "I'll show you, you wait and see" said Dawn, angrily.

Suddenly the announcements of the first battle rounds came up. Mr Suziko, Mr Contesta, Nurse Joy and Fantina were going to judge the battles together. Marian explained the first sets of battles were divided into four blocks; A, B, C and D and 8 contestants were placed in each block. When the first 8 results in block A came out, it was revealed that Dawn will be battling against Ursula first. Ursula didn't mind; to her this was her chance to get even for her past defeats against Dawn.

It wasn't long for the battle rounds to start. Dawn and Ursula took their place on the battle ground. Dawn released Pachirisu and Mamoswine with a star and line seal. Ursula released her Gabite and Flareon with a party and flame seal. Fantina was excited to see how the contest battles would turn out and couldn't stop talking out her excitement. Nurse Joy had to keep asking Fantina to settle down. Ash, Zoey and Nando kept their eyes on the screen to see what will happen next.

Dawn started off by telling Pachirisu to use discharge. Ursula had her Gabite block the move as it was a ground type pokemon. But Dawn knew she was going to do that, and she had Mamoswine use take down on Gabite. Pachirisu had his electricity on Mamoswine and when Mamoswine tackled Gabite, the electricity surrounded Gabite and it shocked Flareon when Gabite crashed into it. Ursula told her Gabite to use sandstorm. It didn't affect Mamoswine, but it did affect Pachirisu. "Mamoswine use blizzard to destroy that sandstorm" said Dawn. "Oh no you don't," said Ursula "Flareon use scary face". Flareon jumped into the sandstorm and used scary face. The scary face appeared in the sand which scared Mamoswine and stopped him from using blizzard.

"Wow, that scary face move really scared me, it was like something out of a horror movie" said Tomo. "Ursula's battle style is impressive," said Brock "this battle is going to be hard for Dawn".

Dawn ordered Pachirisu to use super fang on Flareon and ordered Mamoswine to use ice beam on Gabite. But Ursula had Gabite use double team, and the Gabite copies surrounded both Pachirisu and Mamoswine, which put both pokemon off guard. Then Flareon used shadow ball and both Mamoswine and Pachirisu got hit from the attack. Things were not looking good for Dawn. "Please get up Pachirisu, Mamoswine I know you can do this" said Dawn. Pachirisu and Mamoswine could still go on, but they were still hurt. "Try and try again all you can," said Ursula, rudely, "but all that will do is make you lose and me win. After all it's your job to make me look good". Dawn growled in anger; she didn't like Ursula's words one bit.

With how things were going, it wasn't looking good for Dawn. Especially since Gabite was still using its copies to surround Mamoswine and Pachirisu. "Dawn is going to need to think of something or else she will lose this one" said Brock. Tomo agreed. Dawn decided to go all out this time because it seemed liked she wasn't going to get anywhere with this. "Pachirisu get onto Mamoswine's back and Mamoswine use earth power" she said. The two pokemon did as they were told. Thanks to earth power, Gabite's copies got thrown off. "Quick Pachirisu use thunderbolt and Mamoswine use super power" said Dawn. Mamoswine tackled Gabite really hard with super power and Pachirisu shocked Flareon good with thunderbolt. "That was a risky strategy there, using earth power on the stage" said Nando. "Yes but it was the only to deal with Gabite's double team" said Zoey, understanding the situation. With Gabite and Flareon down, Dawn decided now was the time to use her new move; the ice chandelier. She ordered Mamoswine to use ice shard at once. The ice shard formed a sphere of ice around Pachirisu. "Now Pachirisu use discharge" said Dawn. Pachirisu made the ice sphere roll around like a ball while running and then used discharge to light it up. The judges were amazed by the ice chandelier move and so were Kenny, Zoey and Nando. Ursula couldn't believe her eyes because she had never seen anything like this. But this wasn't stopping her from losing this round. She ordered Gabite to use dig and ordered Flareon to follow Gabite. Gabite dug a hole and Flareon went into the hole. It caused Pachirisu to miss Gabite and Flareon and crash into the wall, causing the ice sphere to break. Then Gabite and Flareon came out of the hole and Flareon hit Pachirisu with shadow ball. Dawn tried to have her pokemon attack Gabite and Flareon, but Gabite kept on using dig and it was easy for Flareon to attack Mamoswine and Pachirisu with shadow ball after coming out of the holes.

Things were looking bad again; Dawn was blocked by Ursula's attacks again, and her points were nearly all gone. She really needed to do something otherwise she will lose. But then she noticed the holes and thought of a quick idea. "Pachirisu get into the holes and Mamoswine use ice shard" she said. While Pachirisu jumped into a hole, Mamoswine got ready to fire ice shard at the holes. But Ursula saw this as an opportunity to have her Gabite and Flareon attack Mamoswine. Mamoswine wasn't defeated though and he used ice shard on the holes. Pachirisu ended up in another ice sphere and used ice chandelier again. Mamoswine gave Pachirisu a boost with ancient power and with that Pachirisu was able to attack Gabite and Flareon a lot before they could do anything. Ursula wasn't giving up and she ordered Gabite to use sandstorm and Flareon to use fire spin. But Dawn had Mamoswine give Pachirisu another boost with hidden power, and Pachirisu tackled Gabite and Flareon really hard before they could use their attacks. Ursula was just about to give her pokemon another command, but Gabite and Flareon fainted in defeat.

It was a bit of a close call because Ursula had more points than Dawn, but Dawn was the winner of the battle. The judges were impressed with how the battle turned out. Even Kenny, Nando, Zoey and Ash were happy with Dawn's win. Now it was their turn to do well with their first battle rounds.

Ursula wasn't happy that she lost. Dawn went to visit her in the dressing room, and told Ursula that she was great during their battle. Even Ursula was happy with the comment and actually enjoyed their battle too; she of course didn't want to admit it. "That win of yours was just pure dumb-luck," said Ursula, haughtily, "so I hope your dumb-luck continues on". Then she left to decide what to do on her journey as a coordinator now. 'Ursula is still Ursula' thought Dawn.

Ash, Nando, Zoey and Kenny won their battles in the first round too so all five rivals made it to the top 8. But there were still many battles to go before it could be found out who would be the top coordinator.

That evening, Ash and Dawn took a breather with Tomo and Brock. "Dawn, you and Mamoswine and Pachirisu were great in your battle," said Tomo "and Ash you were great with Roserade and Luxray". "Now Zoey, Kenny and Nando have won too, there's no telling what will be in store next" said Brock. It was true because with how Ash and Dawn have made it to the second round, there was still some competition for them left in the grand festival.

The next day it was time for round two of the battle rounds, but Ash had a surprise waiting for him. He had to battle Kenny next. Right now he and Kenny were having a chat in a dressing room. "Ash, you and I will finally settle our score" said Kenny. As Ash and Kenny were tied with beating each other in previous contests, they decided they will finally see who will beat who in their second round battle. "I look forward to this Kenny" said Ash. Kenny did too. Dawn, who was listening in, felt nervous about this; she couldn't tell who to route for between Ash or Kenny.

It wasn't long till it was Ash's and Kenny's time to battle in the second round. Kenny called out Empoleon and Breloom, and Ash called out Roserade and Vigoroth. "I remember Kenny beating Ash in the Floaroma contest back when Roserade was Budew, and Ash beat Kenny in the Solaceon contest when he used Vigoroth," said Brock "that's why he's chosen those two. This is his way of settling the score". Kenny understood Ash's decision too and was looking forward to this. Dawn looked on nervously while she watched the screen with Zoey and Nando.

Ash started off by telling Roserade to use leaf storm and then ordered Vigoroth to use flamethrower. Kenny had Empoleon counter the flamethrower with hydro cannon and had Breloom use seed bomb to fight against the leaf storm. Then Kenny told Empoleon to use metal claw on Vigoroth and told Breloom to use force palm on Roserade. To counter the attacks Ash told Vigoroth to attack Breloom with crush claw and ordered Roserade to attack Empoleon with mega drain. So Vigoroth charged at Breloom and struck it with crush claw and Roserade clung onto one of Empoleon's wings to use mega drain.

"To counter Empoleon and Breloom's moves, Ash had his pokemon swap sides with each other, he is an impressive battler indeed" said Nando. Zoey agreed, and Dawn already knew that. Kenny ordered Empoleon to use steel wing to knock Roserade off its wing and Breloom to use stun spore on Vigoroth to put it off. Poor Vigoroth was paralyzed thanks to the stun spore. It gave Breloom to hit Vigoroth with force palm. Ash was losing points.

"That's not good," said Brock "as Vigoroth is paralyzed thanks to the stun spore it will be hard for Vigoroth to fight back". "At least the stun spore didn't paralyze Roserade" said Tomo. "Yes but Roserade wouldn't be able to handle Empoleon and Breloom on its own" said Brock. Dawn looked on worriedly in the waiting room.

Ash had an idea. "Vigoroth splash yourself with water pulse" he said. While paralyzed, Vigoroth managed to splash itself with water pulse, making him soaked all over. But after shaking off the water he was no longer paralyzed. "What?!" gasped Kenny. He had been confused about why Ash had ordered Vigoroth to splash itself with water pulse, but seeing Vigoroth healed from its paralysis was more surprising. "Ash used the water from Vigoroth's water pulse to wash off the stun spore; that's a strategy he learned from Misty in the past" said Brock. "Yeah I remember seeing Misty do it with her Staryu and Starmie" said Tomo. Zoey, Nando and Dawn were impressed by that strategy and so were the judges. "You really know how to battle Ash, but you aren't beating me that easy" said Kenny. He ordered Empoleon to use hydro cannon and Breloom to use energy ball. There wasn't any chance for Roserade and Vigoroth to dodge the attacks, so again, Ash decided to counter attack it. "Roserade use your energy ball on Breloom's energy ball and Vigoroth use blizzard on the hydro cannon" said Ash. The two energy ball attacks collided with each other, creating fireworks in the process. As for Vigoroth, he froze Empoleon's hydro cannon attack with a blizzard attack, creating a big ball of ice. "Vigoroth grab that ice ball and throw it" said Ash. Vigorth managed to grab hold of the big ice ball and threw it towards Empoleon. "Quick Empoleon use steel wing on the ice" said Kenny. Empoleon broke the ice ball with steel wing, but then Vigoroth moved forward while Empoleon was distracted. "Focus punch Vigoroth" said Ash. Vigoroth punched Empoleon good with focus punch. Kenny was losing a lot of points.

"Ash used the frozen hydro cannon as a distraction so it would be easier for Vigoroth to attack Empoleon, that's Ash's battle strategy for you" said Brock. "My brother is so cool" smiled Tomo. Pikachu, who had been sitting in the seats all this time, couldn't stop cheering for his trainer. Dawn couldn't stop being amazed by Ash's battling style. Even Zoey and Nando were impressed. "Ash is a real battling type of a trainer" said Zoey. Nando agreed.

Right now Ash had more points than Kenny, so Kenny had to do something or he would lose. "Alright Empoleon use whirlpool and ride it with Breloom" said Kenny. Empoleon created a whirlpool and surfed on it towards Vigoroth and Roserade, with Breloom on its shoulder. Ash knew his pokemon couldn't dodge it, so he had to attack it. "Roserade use leaf storm and Vigoroth use thunderbolt" he said. Roserade and Vigoroth attacked the whirlpool with their attacks, and broke it apart. But Empoleon jumped off the whirlpool and charged straight towards Roserade and Vigoroth, with Breloom. "Watch out Vigoroth and Roserade!" shouted Ash. Roserade and Vigoroth charged at Empoleon and Breloom to counter attack.

But then time was up. Everyone looked at the score board to see who had won. The final result was Ash winning the round with a small margin more of points than Kenny. So Ash won this battle round. Ash was happy and he thanked his pokemon. "Phew that was a close one" sighed Tomo. "Yes," agreed Brock "Ash and Kenny really put up a fight with each other out there. Now this battle has finally settled the score with those two".

Kenny felt a bit disappointed that he lost, but he told Empoleon and Breloom that they did a great job. And he actually felt happy to have had another battle with Ash. Dawn was happy for Ash's win, but she felt a bit nervous for Kenny's loss. Ash and Dawn met up with Kenny in the dressing room; Kenny was getting ready to leave. "Are you not staying for the rest of the grand festival?" Dawn asked Kenny. "No I'm going to get myself ready for the next grand festival" answered Kenny. "Oh are you going to travel to another region for that?" asked Ash. "Hmm I might do," said Kenny "but I'll go back home for the time being and train myself and my pokemon first". Ash and Dawn understood. Kenny wished Ash and Dawn luck for the rest of the grand festival and then he left. Another rival was out of the competition but there were still more to go through.

After Ash defeated Kenny, Dawn (Smoochum and Wormadam), Zoey (Gastrodon and Lumineon) and Nando (Sunflora and Altaria) defeated their opponents in the second battle round. Next came the third battle round and Ash (Infernape and Torterra), Dawn (Drifloon and Cherrim), Zoey (Leafeon and newly evolved Mismagius) and Nando (Newly evolved Roserade and Sunflora) defeated their opponents again. So now it was the semi-final rounds and Ash, Dawn, Zoey and Nando were the only coordinators left in the Grand Festival.

Before the results came up Brock and Tomo joined up with Ash and Dawn. "I can't believe we've made to the semi-finals already;" said Ash "it feels like it's all gone so fast". "I know what you mean," said Dawn "and now I'm nervous about whom we'll battle next". "That's understandable," said Brock "I mean you two could either battle Zoey or Nando or each other in the semi-final". Dawn already knew she would have to battle Ash in the Grand Festival, but she was still nervous about who she would battle next. "Chin up Dawn," said Ash "even if we do battle each other let's just have a great battle anyway and enjoy ourselves". "You're right Ash," smiled Dawn "let's battle with no regrets". Ash agreed.

Soon the results came. The semi-final battles were Ash vs Zoey in the first round and Dawn vs Nando in the second round. "Woah so I'm battling Zoey huh?" said Ash. He hadn't had a contest battle with Zoey since the Jubilife contest, so this was a surprise to him. "And I'm going to battle Nando" said Dawn. She had never battled Nando before; not ever since she battled him when they first met Nando, so this was going to be a first contest battle between them.

Just then Zoey and Nando walked up to the group. "This is it," said Zoey "we have made it to the semi-finals". "We sure have" agreed Nando. Zoey stared at Ash. "Ash you and I haven't battled each other since the Jubilife contest," she said "back then I was against people who did gym battles and contests because I didn't believe they could take any of them seriously. But after you defeated me in that contest with your gym battle tactics I realised how wrong I was. During my journey I learned about how people learn from gym battles and contest battles, and how pokemon can bring out their true strength in anything they do". "So that means you really do understand now there is nothing wrong with people doing both gym battles and contests" said Ash. "Absolutely," said Zoey "so Ash give me everything you've got in this battle". "I will" said Ash. Nando turned to Dawn. "Dawn this is the first time you and I have ever battled each other in a contest battle, I look forward to this" said Nando. "Same here Nando" said Dawn.

It was now time for the start of the semi-finals. Ash and Zoey took their places on the stage. Ash called out Gliscor and Metagross and Zoey called out her Glameow and a Gallade. Her Kirlia had evolved. "Figured Zoey would use Glameow like always" said Tomo. "It is her no. 1 pokemon after all" said Brock.

Ash started off by telling Gliscor to use quick attack and Metagross to use bullet punch. Zoey ordered Glameow to charge at Gliscor with shadow claw and ordered Gallade to dodge Metagross and attack it with magical leaf. Gliscor and Glameow collided with each other with their attacks, while Gallade avoided being punched by Metagross and attacked it with magical leaf. "Metagross fight back with metal claw, and Gliscor use your tail" said Ash. With his metal claw attack, Metagross sliced up the leaves and Gliscor managed to pinch Glameow with her tail. "Ash really knows how to fight back" said Zoey. She next ordered Glameow to use shock wave and Gallade to use psycho cut together. The psycho cut and shock wave combined together to make electrical crescent blades. "Gliscor counter it with night slash" said Ash. Gliscor moved in and struck the crescent blades with night slash. She was still hit by the electricity, but as she was a ground type it didn't have any effect on her.

"That was really smart of Ash to use Gliscor;" said Ash "the dark move night slash was super effective against Gallade's psycho cut, which is a psychic type move. And as Gliscor is a ground type, Glameow's electric move shock wave doesn't have effect on her whatsoever". "Yay Ash!" cheered Tomo. Nando and Dawn, who were watching, were amazed by Ash's move. "That Ash is indeed one impressive trainer" said Nando. "He sure is" agreed Dawn.

Zoey was impressed with Ash, but she wasn't giving up next. "Alright Glameow use your iron tail and Gallade use signal beam" she said. "Gliscor, Metagross it's time to use the rocky counter shield" said Ash. Gliscor released a lot of stones from her stone edge attack and Metagross used psychic to make the stones circle around them like a protective shield. Gallade's signal beam was destroyed and both Gallade and Glameow were hit by the stones. "Oh no" said Zoey. She had seen the counter shield before and knew how difficult it was to fight it back. "I think Zoey is in trouble now" said Tomo. Tomo was right because Zoey was losing more and more points thanks to the rocky counter shield. "Gallade use magical leaf and Glameow use shock waves" said Zoey. Gallade's leaves and Glameow's electricity were able to fight back the stones. "Okay Metagross use meteor mash and Gliscor use night slash" said Ash. Metagross and Gliscor charged directly at Gallade and Glameow and hit them hard with their attacks before they could do anything. Zoey was just about to give her pokemon a command, but the last attacks turned out to be too much for Gallade and Glameow and they fainted. So Ash was the winner of the first round of the semi-finals.

"You really did give me everything out there Ash" said Zoey, after she returned her pokemon. "I did say I would" smiled Ash. "Even though she lost, Zoey seems to be taking it well" said Dawn, who was watching everything. "That would be because Ash gave Zoey a great battle, and he really did show her that anyone who participates in gym battles can be great in contests too" said Nando, who understood. This was true; Zoey really did understand now that anybody can learn many things and triumph in both gym battles and contests.

Next it was Nando and Dawn's turn to battle each other. Nando was using his Kricketune, and a newest member of his team, a Lopunny, and Dawn was using Ariados and Chatot. Lopunny and Kricketune gave off a dazzling performance while battling. Lopunny was dancing around like a ballerina, while Kricketune was playing and singing about like a musician. Dawn decided to counter Kricketune's sing with Chatot's uproar attack, making it look like a battle between sounds.

"This is going to be a battle of performances," said Brock "especially since Nando's pokemon have been using dancing with their attacks". Piplup was getting worried for his trainer. "Don't worry Piplup, it will be okay" said Tomo, comforting Piplup. Piplup hoped it would.

Nando ordered his Lopunny to use jump kick on Ariados and Kricketune to use slash on Chatot. "Quick Ariados use your webs to dodge Lopunny and Chatot fly away to dodge" said Dawn. Ariados used his string shot to fly up to the ceiling before Lopunny could kick him and Chatot managed to fly away from Kricketune. "Alright Chatot use aerial ace and Ariados you use pin missile" said Dawn. Chatot charged with aerial ace while Ariados' pin missile was following him. Chatot charged into Lopunny which made it fall back into Kricketune and then the pin missile attack struck the two pokemon. Nando was impressed with Dawn's battling but he wasn't giving up so easily. He ordered Kricketune to use silver wind and Lopunny to use blizzard. It was then that the time was up, and the result was Dawn winning by a very small margin in front of Nando's points. So Dawn won this round; making it Dawn wins against Nando for the very first time.

"Phew that was a close one" sighed Tomo. "You're right because it did look like at first that Nando was going to win," said Brock "but Dawn didn't give up and really give it her all". Piplup chirped out to say 'of course she did'; he had faith in his trainer now. Nando thanked Dawn for a charming battle and he wished her luck in the final round. "Now Dawn is going to face my brother" said Tomo. "It was going to happen sooner or later" said Brock. Dawn and Ash were thinking about that too.

That night Dawn was looking up at the moon with Piplup. The final round was tomorrow. "Thinking about something Dawn?" said a voice. It was Ash; he had come out for air with Pikachu. "I was thinking how I can't believe I had made it to the finals on my first Grand Festival," said Dawn "I thought I wasn't going to make it to the finals". "It's because you believed in yourself and your pokemon all this time," said Ash "when you first started you didn't have faith in yourself, especially after your depression after the Solaceon contest. But after all the things that happened, you really have found the faith in yourself and your pokemon". Dawn smiled because she believed Ash's words. "Another thing I'm thinking about is that you and I will be facing each other in the finals tomorrow" she said. "It was going to happen; at least it's happening in the finals and not in the middle," said Ash "Dawn lets you and I give each other a great battle with no regrets whatsoever and may the best coordinator win". "Yes, let's do that," said Dawn "but Ash I have a condition for our battle tomorrow". Dawn had something planned for the final round.

The next day it was time for the final battle round of the Sinnoh Grand Festival. Everyone was excited to see who would be the winner of the last round. Zoey and Nando were sitting in the audience seats to watch the battle between Ash and Dawn. Kenny and Ursula, who were away from Lake Valour by now, were watching everything on tv. Delia was watching as well back in Pallet Town; she had been watching the Sinnoh Grand Festival all this time. Ash and Dawn got into their places on the battlefield and Marin gave the signal for the battle to start. To everyone's surprise Ash sent out Pikachu and Azelf and Dawn sent out Piplup and Mespirit.

This was Dawn's plan; she wished for Ash and her to use Azelf and Mespirit because they hadn't been in a pokemon contest yet, and Dawn also suggested she and Ash use their starter pokemon, Pikachu and Piplup, too. Ash had agreed to the idea because this would be a pokemon contest battle no one would ever forget. They had talked to Azelf and Mespirit about their plan and the two legendary pokemon didn't mind to compete against each other.

Brock and Tomo were surprised by this too because they didn't know anything about the plan. "I don't believe it!" gasped Brock. "They're using Azelf and Mespirit, wow" said Tomo. "That is surprising" said a voice, behind the boys. It was Johanna. Brock and Tomo were surprised to see her. "I came here to watch Dawn's final battle round in person rather than on tv," said Johanna "since those two are using two legendary pokemon it will be interesting to see what Azelf and Mespirit will do". Brock offered to have Johanna sit with them. "I can't wait to see what Azelf and Mespirit will do" said Tomo. "Me too" said Brock.

Dawn started off by telling Mespirit to use psybeam and Piplup use bubble beam. The bubbles circled around the psybeam attack. Ash had his pokemon counter it by telling Azelf to use its psybeam attack and Pikachu use thunderbolt. The thunderbolt circled around the psybeam attack, and it all created a big band of fireworks. "Ash and his pokemon really know how to counter against moves but I know how to as well thanks to watching Ash all the time," said Dawn "alright Mespirit up". Mespirit started to fly around gracefully to distract Azelf and Pikachu. Pikachu and Azelf stood guard to brace themselves. "Now Piplup use hydro pump" said Dawn. Piplup fired a hydro pump attack which hit both Pikachu and Azelf.

"Pikachu and Azelf just got hit" said Tomo. "Mespirit's distraction gave Piplup the chance to attack with hydro pump" said Brock.

Ash moved in next. He ordered Pikachu to use iron tail and told Azelf to use thunderbolt. While Pikachu lit up his tail with iron tail, Azelf struck Pikachu's tail with thunderbolt, making his tail a light yellow colour. They were using a combo attack. "Pikachu charge!" commanded Ash. Dawn decided to counter with a combo attack too. She ordered Piplup to use whirlpool and Mespirit to use confusion on the whirlpool. Mespirit made the whirlpool charge straight to Pikachu. Pikachu used his powered up tail to break the whirlpool apart. Dawn was losing more points than Ash was. Dawn moved in next by telling Piplup to use mist and have Mespirit move around the mist while being invisible. Because of the thick cloud, and Mespirit being invisible, it was hard for Azelf and Pikachu to see Mespirit and Piplup.

"Is this alright?" asked Tomo. He was remembering how coordinators had to be careful when covering up their pokemon. "It's alright to use smokescreens and mists inside a battle of a pokemon contest," said Johanna "only as long if it's for a good cause and all depends on how you'll use them in a contest battle". "Pikachu and Azelf stand your ground" said Ash. Pikachu and Azelf stood close together and braced themselves for whenever Piplup and Mespirit were going to do something. Just then Azelf fired a psybeam attack and to everyone's surprise, Mespirit got hit. The mist cleared up and Mespirit recovered from its attack. "What just happened?" asked Tomo. "I reckon Azelf was able to detect Mespirit which is why it moved in with an attack," said Brock "remember Azelf, Uxie and Mespirit are able to sense each other no matter where they are". "Oh yeah I nearly forgot that" said Tomo. Dawn was starting to feel a bit worried. 'Okay so if my strategy of hiding my pokemon and sneaking up with surprises won't work, then I'll just have to have my pokemon attack them head on' she thought. "Okay Mespirit use future sight and Piplup use whirlpool" she said. While Mespirit was releasing power for a future sight attack, Piplup fired a whirlpool attack towards Pikachu and Azelf. "Quick Pikachu thunderbolt it" said Ash. Pikachu used thunderbolt to break the whirlpool apart, making Dawn lose more points.

"Dawn had Piplup use whirlpool to distract Pikachu and Azelf while Mespirit used future sight," said Brock "that could be bad for Ash because we don't know when future sight will hit." Tomo couldn't help but look on in nervousness.

Ash knew the future sight wasn't going to be easy for him to handle with as he had seen this attack before. But of course it wasn't going to stop him from continuing the match. "Pikachu attack with thunderbolt and Azelf you attack with swift" said Ash. While the two pokemon fired their two attacks together, Dawn ordered Piplup and Mespirit to use whirlpool and swift together, to counter the attacks. "Quick pikachu charge in with volt tackle!" commanded Ash. Pikachu managed to charge at Piplup with volt tackle while he was distracted. "Piplup, are you okay?" asked Dawn. Piplup was still standing but he was still hurt. 'I need to do something to turn this around', thought Dawn 'the future sight attack hasn't come yet so I still need more time till it does'. "Alright Piplup use bubble beam and Mespirit use confusion on the bubbles". Piplup fired a lot of bubbles and Mespirit used confusion to control all the bubbles, and made the bubbles circle around Pikachu and Azelf. This was trouble because thanks to Mespirit controlling the bubbles, Pikachu and Azelf couldn't escape from the bubbles even if Azelf could fly away from them.

"That's a clever move; using confusion to control the bubbles like that," said Brock "Pikachu and Azelf will have a tough time with that". Johanna was looking impressed with this; she could see how much Dawn had gotten better with battles. Ash was impressed too especially since this was a contest move he hadn't seen before.

Suddenly Azelf started calling out to Ash and a light was appearing from the ceiling. 'I hear you Azelf,' thought Ash 'future sight is coming. Alright let's go out with this'. "Pikachu, Azelf counter with a double electric counter shield!" Pikachu and Azelf started spinning around while using thunderbolt together. The counter shield broke all the bubbles apart, and when the future sight move came the shield was able to break the attack apart. The crowd was impressed and cheered for Ash, even the judges were impressed by that.

"Wow that was amazing" said Tomo, in surprise. "I'm not surprised that Ash was going to counter the attack like that. After all his battle strength is surprises". Johanna was impressed too and could see that Ash was a very good battler indeed. Even Zoey and Nando were impressed.

Just then the time for the battle was up. Ash and Dawn quickly looked at the board to see who won. The board revealed that Ash had more points than Dawn and he won the battle, making him the winner of the Grand Festival. Ash cheered and hugged Pikachu and Azelf with delight. The pokemon were happy too. Piplup and Mespirit were disappointed that they lost the battle because they really wanted to win for Dawn. "No need to worry," said Dawn "you both were great out there, especially since we were battling against Ash who is stronger than us". Dawn did feel disappointed that she didn't win, but she was happy for Ash. 'Congratulations Ash' she thought. "I can't believe Ash won" said Tomo. "He's a top coordinator now" smiled Brock. Delia, who had been watching the grand festival back in Pallet Town on TV, was happy for him and wished him a lot of congratulations.

So in the end Ash was the winner of the Sinnoh Grand Festival, and was given a title of top coordinator. He was presented with the Ribbon Cup by Fantina. The cup was gold, with a small red ribbon and a big brown case. The whole audience clapped for Ash. "Congratulations Ash," said Fantina "that battle was magnifique and you were amazing. I couldn't be happier if I won myself". "Thank you so much" said Ash. He Pikachu and Azelf were very happy with their victory.

After that Dawn was changed back into her normal clothes, and Johanna, Brock and Tomo were waiting for her. Dawn was surprised to see her mum because she didn't notice her presence in the audience stand. Johanna explained she saw the whole performance right from the start. "Sorry I lost mum" said Dawn. "I am very proud of you dear," said Johanna "your battling was great". "You and Piplup and Mespirit were really cool Dawn" said Tomo. "It was indeed a brilliant battle" said Brock. Dawn was happy to get so much praise, despite her loss, and Piplup felt prouder than ever. Dawn gave Johanna back her old ribbon, she gave to her; after everything she had been through, with her five Sinnoh ribbons, and all of her wonderful pokemon and friends she has, Dawn now felt she didn't need her mum's old ribbon for luck anymore. Johanna was happy her little girl has now become a stronger girl than when she first started. "There a lots of things I would like to discuss with you about today's performance Dawn," said Johanna "the good, the bad and the close calls. It couldn't hurt to get a little observation and advice from a former top coordinator". Dawn was more than happy to get her mum's advice.

Just then Nurse Joy came up to the group. "Tomo I just got a Volkner, the gym leader of Sunnyshore city," she said "he said he is ready to challenge you and Ash and he also said to come whenever you and Ash are ready". "Finally Ash and I can challenge Volkner and get our last gym badges". "We'll tell Ash the good news once he's finished being interviewed by the reporters" said Brock. "Ash is going be a while with all those interviews, believe me" said Johanna.

Johanna was right because right now Ash was kept very busy; he had a lot of interviews with reporters and photographers, and he got a lot of phone calls from old friends and rivals, who wanted to congratulate him of winning the Sinnoh Grand Festival. He even got calls from Delia, Prof Oak, Gary, Tracey, Misty and May and Max. By the time he was finished it was getting quite late. He met up with the others in the pokemon center; Zoey and Nando were also there waiting for him. "Congratulations Ash" said Zoey. "Thank you" smiled Ash. "You and Dawn were truly magnificent Ash," said Nando "and now I look forward to seeing you again at the Sinnoh League". "I look forward to that too" said Ash. "Oh that's right," said Tomo "Nurse Joy told me that Volkner is ready to have a gym battle with us". "Great, we'll head out for Sunnyshore City as soon as possible" said Ash. "Well I certainly wish you luck with that Ash and I do hope one day you and I will have a contest battle again one day" said Zoey. She was going to go back to Snowpoint City to work out her next plans for her next pokemon contest. Candice also had plans to celebrate her compete in the Grand Festival. Nando still had one more gym badge to get too, just like Ash. So Nando and Zoey said good bye to the gang and left the pokemon center.

"Well it was certainly fun here wasn't it Dawn?" asked Ash. "Yes and after all this I will work hard and become top coordinator" said Dawn. So now the Sinnoh Grand Festival was over, and now it was time for the gang to continue the journey for Ash to earn his last gym badge to enter the Sinnoh League.

I am so, so, sorry for the long waiting. Not only had I been very busy with work since I last updated, but I also had writer's block because I had trouble how to make up the battles between Ash and Kenny and Ash and Dawn. Also my two last remaining grandparents passed away at the end of last year and the beginning of this year. So I wasn't up to writing because of that. Sorry about this.

I hope everyone likes how I made the Sinnoh Grand Festival. I still don't understand why they didn't have Kenny make it into the battle rounds in the anime, it would have been interesting then. Now Ash won't be entering any more contests after this because there will be no contests in the Unova region and don't forget I'm finishing this story with Unova because I started it long before the games with Kalos appeared so I can't make changes now.

I'm going to do the movie chapter with Zorua and Zoroark next, and that will take me a while to do because of work and things.